GAFYX
Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Alternatives Fund
Virtus Alternative Solutions Trust
Expense ratio1
1.29%
Net assets2
$71.95M
Holdings2
752
Category
Other
2025 return3
6.68%

Investment objective & strategy

As of April 24, 2025 · prospectus

Objective. The fund pursues an absolute return strategy that seeks to provide capital appreciation consistent with the risk-return characteristics of a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. The secondary goal of the fund is to achieve these returns with less volatility than major equity indices.

Strategy. The fund seeks to achieve long and short exposure to global equity, bond, currency and commodity markets through a wide range of derivative instruments and direct investments. Under normal market conditions, the funds subadviser, AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (AlphaSimplex), typically will make extensive use of derivative instruments, in particular futures, forward contracts and swaps on global equity and fixed-income securities, securities indices (including both broad- and narrow-based securities indices), currencies and commodities, and other instruments such as certificates of deposit. These investments are intended to provide the fund with risk and return characteristics similar to those of a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. The fund may also make direct long and short investments in equity and fixed-income securities. The fund seeks … The fund seeks to achieve long and short exposure to global equity, bond, currency and commodity markets through a wide range of derivative instruments and direct investments. Under normal market conditions, the funds subadviser, AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (AlphaSimplex), typically will make extensive use of derivative instruments, in particular futures, forward contracts and swaps on global equity and fixed-income securities, securities indices (including both broad- and narrow-based securities indices), currencies and commodities, and other instruments such as certificates of deposit. These investments are intended to provide the fund with risk and return characteristics similar to those of a diversified portfolio of hedge funds. The fund may also make direct long and short investments in equity and fixed-income securities. The fund seeks to generate absolute positive returns over time rather than track the performance of any particular index of hedge fund returns. In selecting investments for the fund, AlphaSimplex uses quantitative models to estimate the market exposures that drive the aggregate returns of a diverse set of hedge funds. AlphaSimplex seeks to capture these market exposures in the aggregate while adding value through dynamic allocation among market exposures and volatility management. These market exposures may include primarily exposures to the returns of stocks, fixed-income securities (including U.S. and non-U.S. government securities, as well as corporate debt securities), currencies and commodities. In estimating these market exposures, AlphaSimplex may use various approaches, including analyses of the returns of hedge funds included in one or more commercially available databases selected by AlphaSimplex (for example, the Lipper TASS hedge fund database) and regulatory filings. The fund may also directly employ various strategies commonly used by hedge funds that seek to profit from underlying risk factors, such as merger arbitrage and trend-following strategies. In a merger arbitrage strategy, AlphaSimplex buys shares of target companies in corporate reorganizations and establishes short positions in shares of the acquiring companies. Trend-following strategies analyze markets over various time horizons to invest either long or short in assets whose values are rising or falling, respectively. AlphaSimplex will have flexibility to allocate the funds exposure among various securities, indices, currencies, commodities and other instruments; the amount of the funds assets that may be allocated to various strategies and among investments is expected to vary over time. When buying and selling securities and other instruments for the fund, AlphaSimplex also may consider other factors, such as: (i) the funds obligations under its various derivative positions; (ii) portfolio rebalancing; (iii) redemption requests; (iv) yield management; (v) credit management; and (vi) volatility management. The fund will not invest directly in hedge funds. The fund may invest in non-U.S. securities and instruments and securities and instruments traded outside the United States, and expects to engage in non-U.S. currency transactions. As of the date of this prospectus, AlphaSimplex targets an annualized volatility level of 9% or less (as measured by the standard deviation of the funds returns). The standard deviation is a measure of how dispersed the data are in relation to the average data point. For a particular time period, the standard deviation of the fund's returns is, therefore, a measure of how dispersed daily fund returns are relative to the average daily fund return during this period. A low standard deviation means that daily returns are clustered around the average daily return. On the other hand, a high standard deviation means that daily returns are more spread out. Some investors use standard deviation as a measure of risk to compare the expected risk and volatility of various investment options. For example, a typical equity fund will have a higher standard deviation of returns than a typical money market fund, as equity funds generally experience higher volatility of returns as compared to a money market fund. The funds actual or realized volatility during certain periods or over time may materially exceed its target volatility for various reasons, including changes in market levels of volatility and because the funds portfolio may include instruments that are inherently volatile. This would increase the risk of investing in the fund. Under normal market conditions, it is expected that no more than 25% of the funds total assets will be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments relating to the funds derivative transactions. The gross notional value of the funds derivative investments, however, will generally exceed 25% of the funds assets, and may significantly exceed the total value of the funds assets. AlphaSimplex will invest a portion of the funds assets, which may vary over time, in short-term, high-quality securities. Such investments will be used primarily to finance the funds investments in derivatives and, secondarily, to provide the fund with incremental income and liquidity, and may include: (i) short-term obligations issued or guaranteed by the United States government, its agencies or instrumentalities; (ii) securities issued by foreign governments, their political subdivisions or agencies or instrumentalities; (iii) certificates of deposit, time deposits and bankers acceptances issued by domestic banks, foreign branches of domestic banks, foreign subsidiaries of domestic banks, and domestic and foreign branches of foreign banks; (iv) variable amount master demand notes; (v) participation interests in loans extended by banks to companies; (vi) commercial paper or similar debt obligations; and (vii) repurchase agreements. AlphaSimplex will select such investments based on various factors, including the securitys maturity and credit rating. Although the fund does not intend to invest in physical commodities directly, the fund expects to seek to gain its exposure to commodities and commodity-related derivatives through a wholly-owned subsidiary organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands that will make commodity-related investments (the Subsidiary). The fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in the Subsidiary. The strategies and risks described herein for the fund are therefore also applicable to the Subsidiary. Under normal market conditions, no more than 10% of the funds total assets are expected to be dedicated to initial and variation margin payments relating to these transactions. The fund may engage in active and frequent trading of securities and other instruments, including derivatives. Active and frequent trading of derivatives, like active and frequent trading of securities, will result in transaction costs which reduce fund returns. The percentage limitations set forth herein are not investment restrictions and the fund may exceed these limits from time to time.

Top holdings

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
SecurityTickerValue% of fund
DREY-GVT CSH-I MISXX $29.50M 40.99%
BRENT CRUDE FUTR JUN26 IFEU 20260430 COM6 $301.92K 0.42%
WATSCO INC $299.40K 0.42%
NETFLIX INC $288.83K 0.40%
COTERRA ENERGY INC $273.56K 0.38%
NORTHWESTERN ENERGY GROUP INC $256.18K 0.36%
BLACKROCK INC $231.77K 0.32%
MARKEL GROUP INC $229.69K 0.32%
METTLER-TOLEDO INTL INC $229.54K 0.32%
NVR INC $224.05K 0.31%
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Allocation by sector

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
View portfolio breakdown →

Portfolio moves

Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026
Opened
473
Exited
210
Increased
86
Decreased
193
Unchanged
110

How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.

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Advisers

As of December 31, 2025 · N-CEN
FirmRole
Virtus Alternative Investment Advisers, LLC Adviser
AlphaSimplex Group, LLC Sub-adviser

Footnotes

  1. Expense ratio as of April 24, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
  2. Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
  3. Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).

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